Bully to You, Philly
May 4 will mark the premiere of the rollicking documentary Broad Street Bullies, chronicling the 1974 and '75 Stanley Cup--winning Philadelphia Flyers. The one-hour show will appear on HBO at 10 p.m. ET, but maybe its more appropriate home is Animal Planet, given the number of times these Flyers are referred to in feral terms—often proudly by themselves. The prevailing ethic is expressed in the film by forward Bob (the Hound) Kelly. "There's nothing like driving someone's head through the boards to make you feel good," says the Hound, invoking the terror he and his pugnacious mates struck through the entire NHL during their runs to the Cup, the first by an expansion team. Philly's success altered the sport's dynamic to one in which a beatdown on the ice was thought to be essential to one on the scoreboard. The show lovingly retraces the team's bond with its blue-collar, victory-starved fandom, and the '70s hair and fashions are a hoot. But the star is primordial enforcer Dave (the Hammer) Schultz, who in vintage footage is shown whaling on hapless foes. Of his role, Schultz reflects, "Someone had to do it. And I did it." The Hammer is now an avuncular 60, and he says this with a gleam in his eye, but there's little doubt he's still ready at the drop of a glove to kick the livin' crap out of someone.
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MELCHIOR DIGIACOMO (SCHULTZ)
HAMMER TIME By pounding Flyers foes, Schultz primed two Cup wins.